The Fairey Albacore was a World War II carrier-based biplane used as a torpedo-bomber by the British Royal Navy. Developed to replace the Swordfish, it made its first flight in December 1938 and was delivered to the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm in 1940. Although, it had been designed as a carrier-borne aircraft, most Albacores [...]

The Fairey Swordfish was a carrier-borne torpedo-bomber aircraft deployed by the British Royal Navy during World War II. Developed by Fairey, the Swordfish first flew in 1934, entering service in 1935. By the outbreak of war in 1939 a total of 689 aircraft had been delivered. The Swordfish was a three-seat biplane powered by a [...]

The overwhelming importance of carrier aircraft as power projection in warfare at sea was only dimly foreseen in the years which led up to World War II. Historically, it had been the battleship and the naval gunnery which had dominated the oceans ever since the days of the Spanish Armada right up to the Battle [...]

The Kawasaki Ki-100 was Japanese single-engine fighter aircraft used in World War II. It was developed by Kawasaki from the Ki-61, entering service in 1945 and seeing combat action in the last three months of the war. By the end of May, 1945, 272 Ki-61 airframes were converted to the new configuration, which entered service [...]

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 was a World War II Soviet fighter which entered service in May 1941. By the time of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, there were about only 100 MiG-3s in service from a total of 3,422 produced during the war. Although it had been designed for a high-altitude role, combats on [...]

The Potez 631 was a French night fighter aircraft used by the Armée de l’Air during World War II. It was developed from the Potez 63 by Nord Aviation for the night fighting role. Thus, this French low-winged monoplane was one of a family of design variations of the Potez 63 which had originated in [...]